R.I.P. Don S. Davis

Don S. Davis was another one of those actors that you would see in a television show or movie and go, “Oh, look, it’s that guy!” He sadly passed away on June 29th, 2008 of a massive heart attack.

According to IMDB, his first part was on Joanie Loves Chachi, and he worked steadily after that, racking up 135 credits. The first time I vividly remember him was as Major Garland Briggs on Twin Peaks, then he appeared as Captain William Scully (Dana Scully’s father) on X-Files and of course the 160 episodes of Stargate SG-1 where he played Major General George Hammond. I often joked with my parents that I thought he had gone out and bought his own Air Force uniform, and that’s how he kept getting cast as officers.

I wasn’t even aware until I was writing this that he was also an artist working with paintings, sculptures, carvings and more. You can see his work on his gallery site.

He may seem an odd choice for me to write up, considering I usually stick to people like George Carlin and Stan Winston, but I think actors like Mr. Davis never get the credit they are due. They are never the big flashy ones that you see on the covers of magazines in the check out aisle. They aren’t taking home the enermous pay checks that equal the GDP of some small countries. They are the actors who go to work every day to a set for long tedious hours because it’s a job they love. He was a character actor, and he always brought a lot of color to the project he was working on.